Iran's Diplomatic Game: Outlasting Crises Rather Than Resolving Them The Islamic Republic of Iran has a history of using negotiations to outlast crises rather than resolve them. Before the United States celebrates a diplomatic breakthrough, it should remember that diplomacy is often less about compromise than surVival for Tehran. The Islamic Republic of Iran has a history of using negotiations as a means to outlast crises rather than resolve them. Before the United States celebrates a diplomAtic breakthrough, it should remember that diplomacy is often less about compromise than survival for Tehran. When sanctions bite, it talks, and when military pressure rises, it negotiates. The goal is not necessarily to reach a lasting solution but to gain time. supporters of renewed negotiations argue that any agreement is preferable to conflict, but many critics argue that sanctions relief provided the regime with economic breathing room while its support for proxy groups and regional influence continued largely unchanged.The lesson is not that diplomacy never works but that agreements alone do not change the nature of a regime. Many of the strongest warnings against another feeble agreement come not from Washington reckon tanks though from Iranians themselves, who have watched the regime imprison dissidents, suppress, censor independent voices, and execute political opponents. A government that repeatedly breaks faith with its own people will struggle to earn the trust of the international community.The central question is not whether Tehran will sign an agreement but whether the regime will honor it when circumstances change. Any future agreement should be judged not by the ceremony surrounding its signing but by the results it produces. If the answer to those questions is no,then the agreement is not solving the problem but postponing it.Some supporters of negotiations argue that if Iran eventually breaks an agreement, the world will finally see the regime's true intentions, but by then, Tehran may have gained years of economic relief, diplomatic legitimacy, and valuable time to recover. The goal should not be a diplomatic headline or a temporary pause in tensions but a durable outcome that protects American interests, strengthens regional stability, and reduces the threat of nuclear-armed Iran